Statement of faith
ARTICLE 1-NAME AND PURPOSE
SECTION 1.01-NAME-This congregation of believers shall be known as the
SECTION 1.02-PURPOSE-This congregation is organized as a church exclusively for
charitable, religious, and educational purposes within the meaning of Section
501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision
of any future United States Revenue Law), including, but not limited to, for
such purposes, the establishing and maintaining of religious worship, the
building of churches, parsonages, schools, chapels, radio stations, television
stations, rescue missions, print shops, daycare centers, and camps; the
evangelizing of the unsaved by the proclaiming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the
education of believers in a manner consistent with the requirements of Holy
Scripture, both in Sunday and weekday schools of Christian education;
maintaining of missionary activities in the United States and any foreign
country.
ARTICLE 2-STATEMENT OF FAITH AND COVENANT
SECTION 2.01-STATEMENT OF FAITH
The following comprise the Scriptural beliefs of the church and its members.
The Holy Scriptures: The Bible in its original documents, both Old Testament and
New Testament, is the inspired Word of God: the written record of His
supernatural revelation of Himself to man. It is absolute in its authority,
complete in its revelation, final in its content, and without error or
contradiction in its statements. II Timothy 3:15-17, John 10:35, Psalm 89:34;
Hebrews 6:18, II Peter 1:20-21, II Peter 3:16, I Thessalonians 2:13.
Dispensationalism: We believe that the Scriptures must be interpreted in a
literal sense and reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life
which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are
not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God
directs man according to His purpose. Genesis 1:28; I Corinthians 9:17; II
Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians
1:24-25; Revelation 20:2-6.
The Godhead: There is one God eternally existent, Creator of heaven and earth. His person is manifested in three ways: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Isaiah 9:6; John 14:6-9; I Timothy 3:16; I John 5:7; Genesis 1:2; John 10:30, 5:18; Philippians 2:5-6
The person and work of Jesus Christ: The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God the Father, who being born of a virgin, took on flesh and dwelt on earth. He was sinlessly perfect, and He gave Himself as the substitutionary sacrifice by shedding His blood and dying on the cross. He then came back from the dead to pay for all sins, (past, present, and future) and His eternal life is given to all that believe. We believe that the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Intercessor and Advocate. II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9; Titus 2:14, Hebrews 10:10-14; Hebrews 9:12-28; Acts 13:38-41; I Peter 2:24; I John 3:5; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2; Colossians 1:13,19; 2:8-9
Predestination and free will: God is absolutely sovereign, and in His
sovereignty gave man a free will to accept, or reject the salvation He has
provided for man. It is God’s will that all would be saved, and that none would
perish. Go foreknows, but does not predetermine any man to be condemned or to be
saved. God permits man’s destiny to depend on man’s choice. All believers’
destiny is predetermined. However, it is each individual’s choice whether to
believe or not. I Timothy 2:4; II Thessalonians 2:13; II Peter 3:9; John 6:64-65
(V35);
Acts 10:34; I Corinthians 1:21; Ephesians 1:5-14; Romans 8:29-30; Romans 9:30-32
Salvation:
Man is saved by undeserved mercy through faith, and nothing of man enters
into his salvation. It is a free gift. Man’s efforts, no matter how good or well
intended, have nothing to do with salvation, either before or after he is saved.
Salvation is by the finished work of Christ on the cross, and nothing can be
added to what Christ has already done. Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9;
Romans 11:6; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:5; Romans 3:22.
Eternal security:
Every true child of God possesses eternal life, and is, therefore, safe
and secure for all eternity, because he is justified by faith, sanctified by
God, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. He cannot lose his salvation. However, when
a Christian sins, he can lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony and reward;
and incur God’s chastisement. Our relationship to God as His son is eternal,
being established by the new birth. Fellowship, however, is conditional upon
obedience. I Corinthians 3:1-17; Hebrews 12:5-11; I Corinthians 11:30-32; John
-We believe that it is the privilege of every child of God to rejoice in the
assurance of his salvation. Assurance comes from the promises in God’s Word, and
is in no way related to the actions or reactions of the believer after he has
trusted Christ as his Savior. God’s Word, however, while clearly giving absolute
assurance to all believers, also forbids the use of Christian liberty as a
license to sin. Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15.
Repentance:
Repentance is
necessary for salvation. The Greek word for repent is metaneo, which means: “To
change one’s mind.” It does not mean: “To turn from sin.”
That would add works to salvation.
Repentance for salvation refers to
a
change of mind from man’s way of salvation to acceptance of God’s way of
salvation. Many teach repentance incorrectly by including some form of human
effort or righteousness such as willingness to turn from sin or turning from
sin. This is heresy and confuses people. It adds works to salvation and causes
many not to understand God’s free gift. II Corinthians 7:9-10; Hebrews 12:17;
Matthew 21:28-32; Hebrews 6:1.
The two natures:
A true
child of God has two births: one of the flesh and one of the spirit. This gives
the believer a new nature. The flesh is neither good nor righteous. The spirit
man does not commit sin. The results is warfare between the spirit and the
flesh, which continues until death, or the return of the Lord. The flesh nature
does not change in any way after the new birth; however, it can be controlled or
subdued by the new man. John 3:3-7; Romans 7:15-25; Romans 8:8;Galatians 5:17; I
John 3:9; I Peter 1:23; I John 5:18; I John 1:8.
The church: The church began with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and is
composed of all true believers. All believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit
into the body of Christ, which is the church. Water baptism is a testimony to
the world of what Christ has done for us, and is not essential for salvation.
Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Acts 2:1-4; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:5;
Acts 10:47.
Resurrection:
There will
be a resurrection of the saved and the lost. The saved will be raised to eternal
life, and the lost will be raised to eternal conscious punishment. These two
resurrections are separated by at least one thousand years. I Thessalonians
4:13-18; Daniel 12:2: Revelation 20:5-15; Matthew 25:41.
-We
believe that the souls of the saved are, at death, absent from the body and
immediately present with the Lord in conscious bliss awaiting the first
resurrection when spirit, soul, and body will be reunited. Luke 23:43; II
Corinthians 5:8; Philippians
-We
believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious punishment
and torment until the second resurrection. With their soul and
body united, they will appear at the great White Throne Judgment, and
will be cast into the
Second coming:
We believe in the personal, premillenial, pretribulational return of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 1:10; II Thessalonians 2:18;
Revelation 3:10; Luke 21:36; Titus 2:13; Isaiah 26:17-21; Isaiah 27:1;
Revelation 4:4
Creation:
We believe that the days in Genesis chapter one were literal days. We
reject evolution, the Day Age theory, and theistic evolution as unscriptural
theories of origin.
Civil Government:
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of
three basic institutions: 1) the home 2) the church 3) the state. Every person
is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves)
are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution
specific responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the
understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The
home, the church, and the state are sovereign in their respective Biblically
assigned spheres of responsibility under God. Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24;
Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14
Family relationships:
We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before
God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate functions for men and women
in the home and in church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men
are to be the leaders of the church as pastor and elders. Accordingly, only men
are eligible for licensure and ordination in the church. Galatians 3:28;
Colossians 3:18; I Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12.
-We
believe that God has ordained the family to be the foundational institution of
human society. The husband is to love the wife as Christ loves the church. The
wife is to submit to the spiritual leadership of the husband as the church
submits to the headship of Christ. Children are a heritage from the Lord.
Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values,
and leading them through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate
discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction. Genesis 1:26-28; Exodus
20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 19:18; 22: 15; 23:13-14; Mark
10:6-12; I Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians
3:18-21; Hebrews 13:4; I Peter 3:1-7.
satan:
satan is a person. He is the author of sin, and he and his angels will be
eternally punished in the
The person and work of the Holy
Spirit: We believe that Holy Spirit
convicts every man of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and that He regenerates
all who have believed. Each member of the human race is fallen, sinful, and lost
without Christ. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for
salvation of man. The moment a person receives Christ as his Savior, immediately
the Holy Spirit indwells him, and seals him unto the day of redemption. Romans
2:23; John 3:7; I Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 1:13-14; Luke 24:49; Titus 3:5;
John 16:8-11; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2
-We
believe that God bestows spiritual gifts on all believers so that they can do
the work of the ministry.
-We
believe that sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the
miraculous gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the
necessary sign of baptism of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 1:22; 13:8;
-The
miraculous gift of tongues (languages) was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s
power solely for the demonstration of God’s wisdom, purpose, and
power in the establishment of the early church, and was understood by all
that heard it in their native language. Acts 2:6-8.
-God
can heal, but physical healing is not in the atonement. God heals miraculously,
today, when it is His perfect will to do so. Healing cannot be claimed through
the guarantee of the atonement. At times it is God’s will for sickness not to be
removed. II Corinthians 12:8-10; James 5:14-16.
Fellowship with God: I John 1:9 is not a verse for salvation, but a precious promise to
believers for cleansing, and forgiveness. I John 1:9 does not guarantee
restoration of fellowship or of physical damage caused by sin. It is heresy to
teach that confession of sin produces spiritual fruit. Confession places a
Christian in a position where he can have fellowship, if confession is followed
by obedience. I John 1:6-7 teaches that fellowship is the result of a
Christian’s walk, not simply as a result of confession of sin. Spirituality, of
which fellowship is a part, comes from the Christian’s obedience to God. II
Peter 1:5-8; Colossians 1:10; John15:8; I John 1:6-7; Galatians
5:2.
-The
true child of God is not under the law, but under grace. He is saved by grace,
and disciplined by grace. Romans 6:14 -15, Romans 11:6, II Corinthians 3:17.
Sexuality: We believe that God commanded that no intimate sexual activity be
engaged in outside of marriage. We believe that any form of homosexuality,
bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, lesbianism, bisexuality, or
pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God
disapproves and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or
appearance. Genesis 2:24; 19:5; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians
5:1; 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4
Marriage: We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man
and one woman.
-God intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. God hates divorce.
Although divorced, and divorced and remarried persons may hold positions of
service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may
not be considered for the office of pastor or elder. Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew
19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; I Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6
Abortion: We believe that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion is
the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. This sin, as all others,
can be forgiven by Jesus Christ. Job 3:16: Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24;
49:1-5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44
Lawsuits: We believe that God prohibits Christians from bringing lawsuit against
another believer or church for personal disputes. We do believe, however, that a
Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance
company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. I Corinthians
6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32
Giving: We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God's
wealth that God has entrusted to him, is obligated to support the church
financially. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the
use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been given. Genesis 14:20;
Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 9:6-7;
Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; I Timothy 5:17-18; I John 3:17
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible
itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe,
however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the
teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All
literature in the church shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of
Faith.
of
Faith.
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"You that believe on the name of the Son of God may know that ye have eternal life."
I John 5:13